Audit of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board’s Contractual Relationships with RKC Associates Ltd and its Owner

As part of the audit of the Health Board's accounts, the Auditor General became aware of the payments made to RKC Associates for HR consultancy services under the three consultancy contracts, and that two of these contracts had been awarded without competitive tendering.

The report concludes that:

the way in which the Health Board procured and managed HR consultancy contracts awarded to RKC Associates fell well short of the standard that the public has a right to expect of a public body;

the way in which an HR consultancy contract was awarded to RKC Associates in February 2016, along with the actions of key decision-makers, compromised the integrity of the procurement process; and

the process followed by the Health Board that led to the appointment of the owner of RKC Associates to the position of Director of Workforce and Organisational Development in April 2016 was fundamentally compromised, lacked transparency and was poorly documented.